My long-ordered N&W Beep arrived today

[Anonymous]

I think I ordered this little engine back in February or maybe March, shortly after the new roadnames were announced. I got N&W 503. I didn't have any experience with these little engines, but I liked what I had read about them, so I ordered one.

I'm pleasantly surprised with the Beep. It's well-detailed, with nice handrails (might paint them; silver doesn't look right), directional lighting, miniature chains, and a flip-down walkboard over each coupler. I had read that these engines wouldn't pull very well, but I had mine pulling six cars with no trouble at all. Some of these were heavy too, with metal trucks. I noticed that performance is better with the long hood forward, as the engine balks at one of my O22 switches when the short hood is forward. Rerailing is easy too with only four wheels.

So, my recommendation is get one of these. Mine runs great on our O31 tubular layout .

[Anonymous]

I've heard that the Beeps will not work well on 027 or 031 track because the coupler can't swing enough and that will cause the truck attached to the engine to be pulled off the track. Have you had any problems like that?

[Anonymous]

gman,

I've also read complaints about O27 operation, for the reason you mention. I have mostly O42 curves, with a few O31, but this engine doesn't have a bit of trouble going around. Like the Lionel Geeps, it growls (faintly) when going around turns, but there are no coupler problems.

[Anonymous]

I've been looking at acquiring a Beep for bashing purposes and was curious as to the wheelbase (inches). If there's a problem with O27 curves perhaps I'd better re-plan the industrial section to have O31 curves...

Oliver T.

[Anonymous]

Oliver,

The wheelbase is just over 4-1/8".

[daan]

It looks awesome for such a little engine! I think that if in reality they had to design a small switching B locomotive it would look the same. What I like most about it is that though there is no big example for the "model", they made a huge effort to get it detailed with brakes, a logical wheel bearing and spring construction and the detailing of the cab. Fantasy engines made by german brands usually don't have brakes and a very simple, in reality uneffective way of getting the axles sprung.

[brianel027]

Hey gang, no worries over operation on 027 track. This was an issue with the first run of Beeps and RMT was made aware of it. The latest batch has supposedly had the problem fixed.

On the first runs, you can shim away a little of the plastic opening for the coupler and also fix the problem.

Yeah, I'm kind of bothered too with the bright silver handrails. But maybe by the time I'm able to start buying some trains again, this will be changed. And maybe too, they'll decide to issue the Beeps in 3 roadnames that get overlooked when it comes to 027 type product: CSX, Conrail and Norfolk Southern!!

Might be nice to have a least one engine I didn't have to repaint!

And please don't tell me Lionel made an "affordable" U36B in Conrail 2 years ago. Nice looking loco, for sure. Also an operational "piece of crap" to borrow from a Neil Young song. So as far as I'm concerned, that doesn't count until Lionel remakes and does it right for a change.

My one hesistation with the Beep (and I don't have one yet) is the short space between the roller pickups. Even the Lionel Industrial Switcher has more space between them. From what I've seen in photos, it even looks like the previously issued William's version of the Beep had the roller pickups spaced further apart.

Anybody with a Beep experiencing problems with stalling over turnouts and uncoupling tracks?

[Anonymous]

Daan,

It IS an awesome little engine. I experimented with adding more cars last night, and had it running with no problem pulling eight cars, including a Standard-O 50' box car, and several other cars with metal trucks. It's a great puller, and it runs more quietly than my Lionel locos.

*********************************************

Brian,

In my first post I noted that this engine sometimes stops dead over one of my turnouts, but only when running short hood forward. I haven't snooped around yet to see why that is.

[Anonymous]

This little Beep is a real puller. It's been running for the past half-hour with ten cars in tow. I added two flatcars with Ertl diecast trucks on one and a bulldozer on the other. It doesn't seem to faze this engine; no sweat. It a better puller than my Lionel GP-7.

[Anonymous]

Just some quick questions...

Does it have a horn??

Does it matter on 027? If harpitect can get it to go on 031, it isn't much bigger than 027.


I could probably add a smoke unit if I want too.
Thinking of buying it(with all these good reviews) to have another loco around my pike!

[daan]

@harpitect, The lionel gp7, the one with only one vertical engine is screaming for extra weight! I put in a big chunk of reschaped rooflead of about 400 grams and it's a strong puller now. I'll try to find an internetshop who wants to sell a beep to holland. I like these ones a lot. May be I'll find a milwaukee road paint sceme, I love those most of all.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the previous comments about the engine being a real looker. Pulling power is just fine, but I've experienced major problems with 0-27 lionel turnouts. When taking the curved path through these switches, the pickup roller under the trailing end (and I say "trailing" because it doesn't matter which end of the engine goes first....it still happens) slides off the center rail and down between the center rail and the moving switch points.......SHORT CIRCUIT. It happens every time. I have contacted the manufacturer to explain this, and they seem to deny the problem. It's very obviously a design flaw and I don't think there is any easy way for them to fix it. I have an idea to try, but I don't know that I want to attempt it. I hate the thoughts of it, but I might take it to the Fall Allentown, PA meet (I bought it there in the spring) and make RMT/OGRR take it back.

[cnw1995]

By the way, welcome to the forum, nxs. Was your Beep pulling a train when having this trouble? As brianel mentioned, the first run did have problems derailing over these turnouts when pulling a car because the coupler couldn't 'travel' far enough - but cutting out a larger slot on the later runs solved this.

[Anonymous]

cnw1995, thanks for the greeting. It doesn't matter if it's pulling cars or not. This is one of the newer Beeps with the cutaways under the stairs. I'm not experiencing derailments, it's just that the roller spacing and lack of articulation is causing a short between the center rail and the switch points.

[lionelsoni]

Is it possible that the gauge of the locomotive is too narrow, or that there is too much axle end-play, allowing too much sidewise motion?

[Anonymous]

Is there a prototype for the beep, or is it just a smushed together geep.
Also, what are you guys that get them using them as??????????
Dave.

[Anonymous]

I think they are ugly little things but then again there are alot of fans of these engines, so buy them and enjoy them. Remember, having fun is the goal, no matter how you do it.

Dave

[4kitties]

harpitect, did you order your Beep directly from RMT over the phone? I've been trying ever since the York meet to reach them but they don't return my calls.

[railfanespee4449]

for my reviev of the beep, try " Little Reviev
P.S. Check out my new website link!

[Anonymous]

Lionelsoni (Bob),
Interesting point......I think the gauge is fine, but I will have to check the axle endplay. Unfortunately, I have an idea that there needs to be some play there to allow this thing to negotiate turns. Without some sort of articulation between the two axles, it's like trying to make a ruler bend around a corner. Thanks for the idea. I have come up with one solution so far. Painting a stripe of black liquid insulation on the turnout in the correct place eliminates the short and doesn't seem to affect normal operation.

-Nick

[lionelsoni]

Nick, I'm pretty sure you do not need end play for a 4-wheel vehicle. On a curve, the axles are not quite perpendicular to the rails, but are cocked at a slight angle which is determined by the wheelbase. This cocking requires that the wheel gauge be slightly reduced from the track gauge, so that the flanges will not bind. If the wheel gauge is set wide enough that the axles will not move sideways between the rails, but not so wide that there is binding, then the location of the axles is completely determined. Then any end play between the axles and the vehicle simply gives the vehicle freedom to move sideways, carrying its pickup with it. If you reduce that end play nearly to zero, then the pickup will follow the narrowest possible path through the switch, which, if you're lucky, will not include any grounded parts of the switch.

[Anonymous]

Bob,
Makes prefect sense to me. I'll have to check that out and get back to you. Your description sounded quite engineer-like, so I checked your profile...sure enough - a fellow Electrical Engineer. What's your area of specialization?Again, many thanks for your input.
-Nick

[lionelsoni]

I do analog and digital, hardware and software design. I have worked in navigation most of my career, which currently means GPS.